How to replace lenses on VW Golf Mk 7

[forestpct]

The headlamps (Bi-Xenon type) on my VW Golf Mark 7 work fine but the lenses are extremely faded and scratched. I have attempted restoring them but not successful. A number of on-line stores (EBay, Amazon etc) list replacement lenses for sale and I would like to try using these before I resort to buying complete (and expensive) headlamp units. I know the lenses are sealed into the headlamp body using butyl sealant and have viewed a couple of YouTube videos which demonstrate how to remove/replace lenses by heating the complete headlamp unit in an oven to soften the seal. Can anyone provide their experience (good and bad!) of doing this on a Golf Mk7 and any tips? Tx

[Crasher]

I have never failed to be able to restore lenses, what have you used?

[forestpct]

I've tried an of the shelf restoration kit but with no success. Taking car to a body shop that does headlight restoration so hopefully can do better than my effort. One of the units has some blemishes on the inside of the lens from accidental water ingress - any tips on how they can be removed?

[Crasher]

I wash the unit out with distilled water and a drop of dishwasher rinse aid then blow dry with compressed air and a hair dryer, works well. I tend to only do headlight restoration on my own cars or when new ones are silly money as the time involved doesn’t add up for a customers car. My Octavia’s covers were crazing in the actual polycarbonate which I see occasionally and new OE units so affordable I didn’t bother trying but yours are daft money. ECP sell a couple of systems and their OPTIMA wipe kit is excellent at quickly restoring to a clear lens but usually I take the units out, hold them one the bench as use plastic polish an a bodywork buffing G Mop by Farecla. For covers that are badly marked I start by using a hard foam block and the palm of my hand and can start as rough as 400 grit working my way up to 4000 but one headlight can take three hours you I have to balance that against £70 an hour. You get splatted head to foot in the polish.

[tdiblacky]

The headlamps (Bi-Xenon type) on my VW Golf Mark 7 work fine but the lenses are extremely faded and scratched. I have attempted restoring them but not successful. A number of on-line stores (EBay, Amazon etc) list replacement lenses for sale and I would like to try using these before I resort to buying complete (and expensive) headlamp units. I know the lenses are sealed into the headlamp body using butyl sealant and have viewed a couple of YouTube videos which demonstrate how to remove/replace lenses by heating the complete headlamp unit in an oven to soften the seal. Can anyone provide their experience (good and bad!) of doing this on a Golf Mk7 and any tips? Tx

How old is your mk7 that the headlights are this badly faded?

[forestpct]

It is a 2014 model and it's my restoration efforts that have made them worse! So my options are:

1. Body shop is successful in restoring them
2. Buy just replacement lenses that are available through Amazon/EBay etc and trust that I can successfully remove the old lenses and reseal unit with new ones
3. Buy replacements for the complete unit (but the car is fitted with the VW Lighting Package (Bi-Xenon bulbs, Adaptive Lighting etc) and I'm finding it difficult to find any after market replacements that I can be certain are compatible. (The harness connector is 14-pin which I believe is different to the standard halogen units).

Any comments/ideas most welcome!